IndyCar offers free tickets to season-ending race in Las Vegas

IndyCar's announcement in Las Vegas on Tuesday was complete with showgirls. (IndyCar)

IZOD IndyCar Series CEO Randy Bernard has come up with a few more ways to boost interest in the open-wheel sport.

Bernard said Tuesday that IndyCar would hold its season finale Oct. 16 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and that any fan who buys a ticket to any IndyCar race this year -- including the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park -- would be eligible to receive a free ticket to the Vegas race.

"I said at the INDYCAR State of the Sport in mid-January that we must give our fans a great experience with three primary elements -- great entertainment, competition and value," Bernard said. "There is not a city in the world that can provide entertainment like Las Vegas. Las Vegas Motor Speedway will provide some of the fastest and most exciting racing fans will see anywhere, and the ticket promotion is true value. This is a time when INDYCAR can tell our fans that we thank them for their support."

Of course, the details of who is eligible won't be announced until March 1.

Holding the season finale at the Speedway Motorsports Inc. track in Las Vegas is something SMI Chairman Bruton Smith has urged NASCAR to do for years. NASCAR did move its season-ending awards banquet from New York to Vegas but still closes the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Bernard also announced a $5 million challenge. The series will pay $5 million to any professional driver not already competing in IndyCar who enters the Vegas race and wins it. Five such drivers will be allowed to try with the five being determined by mid-summer.

"We showcase our drivers as being the very best, fastest and most versatile in the world," Bernard said, "and we are putting our money where our mouth is."

Off the top of my hand I can think of several drivers who could pull it off.

Tops on the list would be part-time NASCAR Nationwide Series driver and former Indy champion Sam Hornish Jr. A $5 million prize would go a long way toward putting together a 2012 Cup ride.

But to make this challenge work, IndyCar is going to need to entice a big name from NASCAR or Formula One to enter the race.

The Vegas race is scheduled for the day after NASCAR's Saturday night Chase race in Charlotte, so it is also possible for a Cup driver like Tony Stewart or Juan Pablo Montoya to enter.